It is imperative that hot fumes generated by cooking apparatus be continuously vented to the atmosphere, for the health of kitchen workers. A fume hood is used to filter grease and other condensable contaminants entrained in these hot fumes, to prevent malfunction of an air ventilation system. Prior art fume hoods are disclosed for example in U.S. Pat. No. 3,490,206, U.S. Pat. No. 5,429,116, U.S. Pat. No. 5,687,707, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,906,195.
Condensed grease generally accumulates in an inclined fume hood filter, and needs to be manually cleaned on a regular basis by a time consuming procedure so as not to constitute a fire hazard. The fume hood filter is generally a metallic, labyrinth type filter whereby the hot fumes condense upon contact with the plurality of spaced baffles of the filter during each consecutive passage along a winding path through the filter. The condensed grease flows upwardly and downwardly on the face of each baffle, and collects within concave seats provided with the hood assembly, often U-shaped, within which the filter is mounted. These seats are a major source of grease accumulation and are not able to be readily cleaned, particularly since the filter is not easily, or not at all, removable. The accumulated grease also trickles by gravity onto a surface underlying the fume hood to form slippery and hazardous puddles.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a fume hood assembly that is configured in such a way so as to minimize or completely prevent the accumulation of condensed grease during cooking or frying operations.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a fume hood assembly that allows a filter to be mounted thereto without resulting in grease accumulation along the filter periphery.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds.